Hyderabad, Jul 15 (IANS): The Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGNAB) has arrested Aman Preet Singh, the brother of leading actress Rakul Preet Singh, for consuming cocaine, though police declined to name her.
He was among 13 consumers identified by the TGNAB along with Cyberabad police after busting an international drug syndicate.
Police arrested five drug dealers, including two Nigerians, of which one of them was a woman. It also seized 199 grams of cocaine.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Srinivas Rao told media persons that two more accused, both Nigerians, are absconding. The TGNAB announced a Rs 2 lakh reward for information leading to their arrest.
The consumers were identified as Aman Preet Singh, Kishan Rathi, Aniketh Reddy, Yashwanth, Rohith, Sri Charan, Prasad, Hemanth, Nikhil Dhawan, Madhusudhan, Raghu, Krishnam Raju, and Venkat from Hyderabad. Out of them, five were apprehended after they tested positive for cocaine.
The DCP said they would be presented before the court.
Aman Preet Singh was identified as a resident of Lotus Pond. "At this stage, we will not be able to comment on whose brother he is. We will know this during further investigation," said the officer when a reporter asked if he was the brother of a popular actress.
Acting on a tip-off, sleuths of the TGNAB along with Narsingi police of Cyberabad Commissionerate raided a flat at Vishal Nagar in Hydershakote and apprehended five drug dealers.
Police said 199 grams of cocaine valued at about Rs 36 lakh, two passports, two bikes, 10 cell phones and other incriminating material were seized from their possession.
The arrested Nigerians were identified as Onuoha Blessing alias Joana Gomes alias Jo, 31, and Azeez Noheem Adeshola, 29, both Nigerians. Blessing is a hair stylist residing in Bengaluru while Azeez Noheem is a B.Com final-year student at Nizam College, Hyderabad.
The other accused are Allam Satya Venkata Gowtham, a lead consultant in a Bengaluru company and a native of Visakhapatnam, Mohd Mahaboob Shareef, a choreographer and resident of Rajendra Nagar in Rangareddy district and Sanaboina Varun Kumar, a car driver.
Divine Ebuka Suzee and Ezeonyili Franklin Uchenna, both Nigerians are absconding.
Police suspect that the kingpin Suzee could have returned to Nigeria. He was sending his main associate Blessing to Delhi to transport drugs to Hyderabad and other cities in India.
Police found that she brought large quantities of cocaine more than 20 times to Hyderabad for distribution to the above drug dealers. A native of Nigeria, she took a passport from Guinea-Bissau with the fake name of Joana Gomes and came to India in 2018 for the drug trade. Adeshola came to India in 2014 on a student visa. He indulged in cheating by submitting a fake DD to Osmania University and was last year sentenced to two years by the trial court. While on bail, he was doing drug peddling along with Kaleshi.
Based on the commission received by Gowtham, police suspect that the gang would have supplied 2.6 kg of cocaine to the consumers/peddlers in the last 7 months. Police have announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of the absconding accused.